INTRODUCING SPIKE LEE
I wrote the introduction to his first film book - the making of She's Gotta Have It
As has become commonplace in the world of magazine’s in the social media world, the Hollywood Reporter did an 100 best of list. But not of directors, actors and scripts, but of books about movies. I normally detest these kinds of lists (the Rolling Stone pieces are particularly aggravating), but I figured this would be a great way to find some texts I wasn’t aware of. I also suspected that they’d have to have a book by or about Spike Lee amid those 100 titles. Spike has either penned or sponsored a number of books over his historic career, so one of them had to on this list somewhere.
Well it was first one, Spike Lee’s Gotta Have It: Inside Guerrilla Filmmaking (1987), that clocked in at 76, tied with Jacqueline Susann’s 1966 Hollywood pot boiler, Valley of the Dolls. (Which shows you how random these lists are.) I worked on that first book, being that I lived around the corner from Spike in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and I’d been an investor in his inventive, low budget sex comedy. So I wrote an introduction to the book, which was really an introduction to the filmmaker, and did two interviews with Spike about the making of his breakthrough film that were merged into one text. The book was entirely Spike’s idea. He first pitched it to me when he was still struggling to raise money for the film. He loved the film book done to accompany Win Wenders’ Paris, Texas. I thought dude was crazy. I mean he didn’t have the money yet to finish the film and he’s pitching a book!
That was my first lesson he Spike: when he has a vision Spike pushes and dreams and makes things happen. Spike has made more films, music videos, documentaries and commercials than any black filmmaker in history. He doesn’t take “No” for an answer. I even did the first interview well before the film was distributed and still have the tapes. In no way did I know the man was about to make history, but he always believed he would.
In light of the Hollywood Reporter mention, and the opening of an impressive exhibition of his inspirations at the Brooklyn Museum, titled Creative Sources, I take you back in time November 21, 1986 when Spike Lee had recently graduated from NYC film school and had just released his indie debut She’s Gotta Have It. (If you want to read the full interview and his production diary, find a copy of the book on line.)
Shout out to Malaika Adero, the editor who signed ths book up at Fireside Books.